Bulb holder carried by plug button



NOV. 12, 1963 E, E H RE; J I BULB HOLDER CARRIED BY PLUG BUTTON Filed May 23, 1962 Iuvezdor. E vez'eii EJIarrz'sJi any.

United States Patent 3,110,539 BULB HOLDER CARRIED BY PLUG BUTTON Everett E. Harris, Jr., Concord, Mass, assignor to United- Carr Fastener Corporation, Cambridge, Mass., a corporation of Delaware Filed May 23, 1962, Ser. No. 197,068 2 Claims. (Cl. 339-188) The present invention relates to lamp holders and more specifically to the combination of a closure member and a lamp holder.

An object of the present invention is to provide a combination closure member and lamp holder attached together by a resilient spring finger.

A further object of the invention is to provide a combination quick attachable engaging member and lamp holder foreasy engagement with and disengagement from an apertured housing.

-A still further object of the present invention is to provide a U-shaped lamp holder having expansible spring means for engaging the spherical glass surface of a bulb and having notched means for securing the bayonet pin means of the bulb.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a flexible bulb holder for resiliently holding a bulb in engagement with afixed base contact.

Other objects of the invention will, in part, be obvious, and will, in part, appear hereinafter.

In the drawings FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the housing partially broken away showing the specific combination attaching member and bulb holder with a bulb engaged therein;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side elevation partly in section of the device shown in H6. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of a closure button and bulb holder.

In the constructions utilized prior to the device disclosed in the instant application, the socket was engaged in a pronged ring which, in turn, snapped into an axial aperture formed in the housing. In the instant case, through the use of the disclosed construction, the housing may be completely enclosed and the lens can be permanently installed in the housing proper. Some old constructions required that the lens be bolted or screwed to the housing, and the same bolts were utilized to hold two sections of the housing together.

Referring to the drawings, and more specifically to FIGS. 2 and 4, there is shown a combination attaching member and bulb holder unit comprising a closure button and a bulb holder 12. The attaching member selected for illustration of the invention is closure button 10 comprising a cap portion 14 having an aperture '16 formed therethrough at approximately the midpoint of the said cap portion 14 having a series of legs 22 formed at its periphery and extending therefrom. The legs 22 have diverging and converging portions forming a knuckle.

The novel bulb holder 12 is generally U-shaped in construction and comprises a base portion 24, a resilient arm .26 extending from said base portion 24 in integral relationship therewith, and two pairs of spring jaws extending from said base portion 24 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. Each pair of spring jaws comprises a forward engagement jaw 28 and :a rear stud engagement jaw 30. The rear stud engagement jaw 30 extends from a support portion 36 in spaced parallel relationship to the base element 32 of the forward engagement jaw 28 as shown in FIGS. 2 and'4. The forward engagement jaw 28 extends from the base element 32 and has a series of expansible spring fingers 34 in integral relationship with the base element 32 and extends therefrom in spaced Patented Nov. 12, 1963 ice substantially parallel relationship to each other. The free terminal end of each of the spring fingers 34 is bent slightly away from an axis line drawn between the two pairs of spring jaws. The rear stud engagement jaw has a support portion 36, a ramp portion 38 in integral angular relation with the support portion 36, and a studengaging portion or stop- 40' integral with said support portion 36 and spaced from said ramp portion 38 to form a notch 42. The resilient arm 26 is formed in angular relationship to the axis of the bulb holder 12 as best shown in FIG. 4, and has a terminal end bent in angular relationship to the remaining portion of the spring arm 26 to form a connecting portion 44. This connecting portion 44 has an aperture 46 formed therethrough for purposes to be described hereinafter.

The upper surface of the connecting portion 44 is brought into abutting relationship 'with the lower surface of the cap portion 14 with the axis of the aperture 46 in line with the aperture 16 of the cap 14. The two elements :are then secured together, as shown in FIG. 2, as by a rive-t of some type uassed through the two apertures to rivet the connection portion '44 to the cap portion 14.

A bulb 4 8 can now be snapped between the jaws of the bulb holder 12, and in this case, the studs of the bulb 48 are cammed over the ramp portion 38 of the rear stud-engaging jaws 30 and then are snapped into the notch 42 placing a pair of jaws of the bulb holder '12 on each side of the bulb 48 thereby securely holding the bulb 48 in engagement with the bulb holder 12.

As stated heretofore, the rear stud engagement jaw 30 is spaced from the forward engagement jaw 28 the only connection between the two jaws being the base portion 24. As the studs 50 of the bulb 48 pass over the ramp portions 38 of the rear stud engagement jaws 30, the rear stud engagement jaws 30 are flexed toward the forward engagement jaws 28 and this flexure continues until the studs 50 snap into the notches 42. If desired, the flexure of the rear stud engagement jaw 30* may be sustained after engagement to some degree.

The housing comprises an envelope 52 formed of a comductive material, a lens element 54, :and a conductor holder 56. The wall of an opening 58 formed in the envelope 52 is engaged by the legs 22 of the closure button 10. An indexing extension 60 is formed from the wall of the opening 58 extending within the area encompassed by the opening 58 for a purpose to be described hereinafter. The envelope 52 is substantially in the form of an opened box having an envelope base portion 62 formed in angular relationship with the side of the envelope 52 through which the opening 58 is formed. The envelope base portion 62 has an engagement aperture 64 formed therethrough to the wall of which the conductor holder 56 is engaged.

The conductor holder 56 comprises a compressible body element having an aperture formed therethrough and a contact element 68, closing one end of the aperture formed through the body element as shown in FIG. 2.

A groove or channel is formed in circumscribing relation to a portion of the conductor holder 56 and the walls of the channel are engaged to the wall of the aperture 64 formed in the base portion 62 as shown in FIG. 2. The lens element 54 can then be laid into the open area formed by the envelope 52 on a shoulder 65 formed thereon and then the base portion 62 and two of the walls of the envelope 52 can be bent over and around the lens element 54 holding it securely in place. A pair of metal tabs are formed on opposite sides of the envelope 52, one being formed in integral relation-ship with a portion of the base portion 62. These tabs 70' are formed of a conductive material and carry the current to complete the circuit of the assembly. The configuration of the tabs in this case is substantially rectangular, although numerous other geometric configurations would also serve in a satisfactory manner.

At this point, it is important to note, as disclosed in FIG. 4, that the resilient arm 26 is formed in angular relationship with the base portion 24 of the bulb holder 12. In the form disclosed, the angle between the base portion 24- and the resilient arm 26 is obtuse as shown on FIG. 4. The resilient arm 26 may be formed at a different angle from the right angle which it ultimately assumes, the important point being that the arm flexes in relation to the bulb holder.

The engagement of the combination closure button and bulb holder with the envelope and the conductor holder assembly is accomplished in the following manner. The full assembly including the bulb holder 1'2 and the closure button 10 is most easily engaged to the envelope 52 by passing the bulb holder, its attached bulb and the major portion of the resilient arm 26 between the walls of the aperture or opening 58 formed in the envelope 52. The legs 22 of the closure button 10 are engaged with the wall of the aperture 5 8 so that the resilient arm 26 is placed into an integral right angle relationship with the base portion 24 thereby tensioning the terminal end of the bulb 48 into electrical contact with the contact element 68.

One of the legs 22 of the engagement ring 18 is removed to form a slot for engagement with the indexing extension 60. In the device shown in FIG. 1, the opening is left at a point approximately on the mid line formed by the axis of the bulb holder 12. Thus the bulb is placed within a complete enclosure which is substantially dustproof and may be, if required, made water-proof by the addition of a sealing material about the legs 22. In order to change the bulb it is only necessary to snap out the closure button and pull the whole assembly out of the envelope 52, change the bulb, snap the bulb into engagement with the bulb holder, and return the elements to the position in the assembly. The grounding of this particular electrical assembly can be performed through the conductive material of which the envelope 52 is formed and thence through the tab 70,

Since certain other obvious modifications may be made in this device without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained herein be interpreted in an illustrative and not in a limited sense.

I claim:

1. A bulb holder generally U-shaped in cross section having 'a base portion and two pairs of spring jaws, one pair of said spring jaws extending from one side of said base portion and the other pair of spring jaws extending from the opposite side of said base portion in spaced relation to each other and each pair of said spring jaws having a rear stud engaging jaw and a forward engaging jaw, said rear stud engaging jaw having a notch means for engaging a stud ona bulb and said forward engaging jaw having a a base element and a series of spring fingers integral with and extending from said base element in a direction away from said rear engaging jaw.

2. The combination of a closure button, a resilient arm, and a bulb holder, said closure button comprising a cap portion and a series of legs spaced from each other and integral with the periphery of said cap portion, said resilient arm connecting said closure button to said bulb holder and spacing said bulb holder from said closure button and said bulb holder comprising a base portion and two pairs of spring jaws, each of said pair of spring jaws extending from a side of said base portion and being spaced from each other, and each of said spring jaws having a rear stud engaging jaw with means for engaging a stud of a bulb or the like and a forward engaging jaw spaced from said rear engaging jaw and having a series of spring fingers integral therewith and extending therefrom.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,322,226 Bulloch Nov. 18, 1919 1,871,910 Parker Aug. 16, 1932 2,125,843 Hall Aug. 2, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,028,362 France Feb. 25, 1953 

1. A BULB HOLDER GENERALLY U-SHAPED IN CROSS SECTION HAVING A BASE PORTION AND TWO PAIRS OF SPRING JAWS, ONE PAIR OF SAID SPRING JAWS EXTENDING FROM ONE SIDE OF SAID BASE PORTION AND THE OTHER PAIR OF SPRING JAWS EXTENDING FROM THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF SAID BASE PORTION IN SPACED RELATION TO EACH OTHER AND EACH PAIR OF SAID SPRING JAWS HAVING A REAR STUD ENGAGING JAW AND A FORWARD ENGAGING JAW, SAID REAR STUD ENGAGING JAW HAVING A NOTCH MEANS FOR ENGAGING A STUD ON A BULB AND SAID FORWARD ENGAGING JAW HAVING A A BASE ELEMENT AND A SERIES OF SPRING FINGERS INTEGRAL WITH AND EXTENDING FROM SAID BASE ELEMENT IN A DIRECTION AWAY FROM SAID REAR ENGAGING JAW. 